Is Saunders following Mark Pope to Kentucky?
Mark Pope has been a busy man since becoming the Kentucky Wildcats’ head coach, and he’s shown no sign of slowing down.
Pope has been traveling the nation for the past week, meeting with different prospects. He is also coming back this weekend to welcome Amari Williams, a visit that resulted in a commitment from the Drexel center. Collin Chandler, a former BYU Cougars signee, also gave Pope a promise.
Another visitor has been reported, and it’s one of Pope’s previous teammates.
BYU guard Richie Saunders is scheduled to visit Kentucky on Sunday and Monday, according to KSR’s Matt Jones. Saunders’s eligibility at his next institution will last for an additional two years.
A class of 2020 recruit, Saunders served a two-year Mormon mission before joining the Cougars in 2022. In his In his rookie season, the 6-foot-5 Utah native averaged 15.9 minutes per game, 5.5 points on 45.3% shooting (33.3% from beyond the arc), 2.4 rebounds, and 0.8 assists.
Saunders averaged 9.6 points on 52.3% shooting (36.4% from outside the arc), 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 20.7 minutes per game during the previous campaign. His season-high twenty points on 7/12 shooting (3/6 from long range) in a 68-63 loss to Iowa State was his high point. In each season, he was a substitute player.
Since Aly Khalifa transferred to Louisville, Kentucky has not been able to sign a BYU transfer, and Dallin Hall is not taking the Wildcats into consideration. Saunders might be the player Pope manages to bring to Lexington, at least one of his former teammates, you would imagine.
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Twitter reacts to Amari Williams becoming Mark Pope’s first transfer commitment at UK
This week, Coach Pope has brought in two recruits; the most recent being his first through the transfer site.
The transfer portal’s board features the Kentucky Wildcats.
Amari Williams, a center for Drexel, became the first transfer pledge of the Mark Pope era on Sunday, and boy, did Kentucky need it.
Williams is the kind of paint presence that Kentucky sorely lacked during the previous campaign, and he would have been a fantastic addition even if John Calipari had been in charge.
You don’t win three Defensive Player of the Year titles in a conference, after all, if you can’t significantly contribute at that end. Williams played in the CAA for the previous three seasons doing just that.
Williams is exactly the kind of player Pope can start assembling his team around, even though his offensive game might not light the world on fire. Along with Colin Chandler, he is one of the guys that has committed to the Wildcats this week; there will undoubtedly be many more in the upcoming weeks.
This is how Twitter responded to the major
